Walker budget could mean layoffs at UWMC

Professor Chris Wilbur lectures in his life-span developmental psychology class at the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County, Thursday, February 12, 2015.(Photo: Dan Young/Daily Herald Media)Buy Photo

If proposed cuts to the University of Wisconsin System are approved, UW Marathon County would lose $480,000 in state funding and might have to cut 7.5 positions — on top of two dozen jobs eliminated in recent years.

The new round of layoffs would be necessary if Gov. Scott Walker's budget were approved by the Legislature and the funding cuts for UWMC were translated solely into paring jobs, said UWMC Campus Dean Keith Montgomery.

"It depends on what areas we have to make reductions in," Montgomery said.

Walker has proposed $300 million in cuts to the UW System in his biennial budget, and those figures are being extrapolated across the system to determine cuts at individual campuses.

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Elizabeth Fritz, left, and Samanta Wirkus, both of Wausau, work on a problem together as they study for a chemistry exam at the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County, Thursday, February 12, 2015.(Photo: Dan Young/Daily Herald Media)

Assuming half of that amount were applied to the upcoming fiscal year, and the cut were proportioned the same as a previous reduction, the result would be a $5.6 million cut to the UW Colleges, which translates to a 16.4 percent cut in UWMC's state support, Montgomery said.

"It's a real big cut; it's not chicken feed," Montgomery said.

Wausau's Gerald Whitburn, a member of the UW Board of Regents, agreed the cuts could be significant.

"As to the impacts across our campuses, I do think that we need to be 'eyes wide open' because potential reductions at this level are very material," said Whitburn.

Whitburn, retired chairman and CEO of Church Mutual Insurance Co. in Merrill, said the proposed reductions "are deep and I would hope that they could be mitigated as the Joint Finance Committee and the two houses of the Legislature consider the biennial budget."

"Over the past three years, we've cut approaching 25 positions," he said in a recent interview. "My fear is that the public thinks since the lights are still on … everything's fine."

Montgomery said certain areas of the budget, such as state financial aid, debt service and the energy and physical plant, can't be cut.

That leaves education, which includes things like instruction, student services, student support and institutional support.

The proposed reductions to the UW System are part of a longer-term trend that's seen state support to the UW Colleges decrease, Montgomery said.

In 2002, 60 percent of the UW Colleges' education program budget was paid for by the state with the balance covered by tuition, he said. In 2014, just 38 percent was funded by the state with tuition accounting for the remaining 62 percent.

Montgomery said the school isn't necessarily putting together a contingency plan, but administrators are talking about what the cuts might mean and he plans to address the Marathon County Board Tuesday about the potential impact on the local college.

"Because they have a stake in this; (Marathon County) owns the buildings," he said. "I'll be sharing some generalities about the UW and sharing some specifics about UWMC. At this point we just want to educate some people."

Bob Dohr can be reached at 715-845-0660715-845-0660. Find him on Twitter as @BobDohr1.